In tennis, an ace is a legal serve that is not touched by the receiver, winning the point for the server.[1] In professional tennis, aces are generally seen on a player's first serve, where the server can strike the ball with maximum force and take more chances with ball placement, such as the far corners of the service box.[2] According to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, this term was coined by the sports journalist Allison Danzig.[3]
Professional singles records
Aces have been officially recorded by the top-level professional tennis circuits since 1991,[4] so these records start at that time.
Only main draw singles matches are included here.
W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
ATP Tour
John Isner has the most aces in a tournament with 214 during the 2018 Wimbledon,[5] and he has the most in a single match with 113 during his 11-hour encounter with Nicolas Mahut in 2010. John Isner has served the most aces with 14,470.[6][7]
Ivo Karlović has the most in a best-of-three-set match with 45 at Halle in 2015.[8] Two weeks later, during Wimbledon, he became the only player to hit at least 40 aces in three consecutive matches.[9]
Goran Ivanišević has the most in a single season with 1,477 in 1996.[10] He also has the second most in a tournament with 213 when he won the 2001 Wimbledon title.[5]
Roger Federer hit 50 aces in the 2009 Wimbledon final, the record for a Grand Slam final.[11] He is also third on the career list.[6]
Aces
|
Top 10 most aces served in a match
No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Sets | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
113 | John Isner | W | Nicolas Mahut | 1R | 2010 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | [14][15] |
103 | Nicolas Mahut | L | John Isner | |||||
78 | Ivo Karlović | L | Radek Štěpánek | SF | 2009 Davis Cup | 5 | Clay | |
75 | Ivo Karlović | W | Horacio Zeballos | 1R | 2017 Australian Open | 5 | Hard | |
67 | Reilly Opelka | L | Thomas Fabbiano | 2R | 2019 Australian Open | 5 | Hard | |
64 | John Isner | W | Ruben Bemelmans | 2R | 2018 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | |
61 | Ivo Karlović | W | Lu Yen-Hsun | 1R | 2016 US Open | 5 | Hard | |
Ivo Karlović | L | Jan-Lennard Struff | 2R | 2018 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | ||
59 | Ivo Karlović | L | Kei Nishikori | 2R | 2019 Australian Open | 5 | Hard | |
56 | Albano Olivetti | L | Matthew Barton | 1R | 2016 Wimbledon | 5 | Grass | [16][15] |
Most aces in a US Open match
No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
61 | Ivo Karlović | W | Lu Yen-hsun | 1R | 2016 US Open | Hard | [17] |
52 | John Isner | L | Steve Johnson | 1R | 2020 US Open | ||
49 | Richard Krajicek | L | Yevgeny Kafelnikov | QF | 1999 US Open | ||
Kevin Anderson | W | Jiří Veselý | 1R | 2021 US Open | |||
48 | Alexander Bublik | W | Thomas Fabbiano | 2R | 2019 US Open | ||
John Isner | L | Michael Mmoh | 2R | 2023 US Open | [18] |
Most aces in a clay-court tournament
Note: This marked the third time that Isner had hit 100+ aces in a clay-court tournament.
No. | Player | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
124 | Martin Verkerk | 2003 French Open | Clay | [19] |
110 | John Isner | 2014 French Open | ||
108 | Michael Stich | 1996 French Open | ||
107 | John Isner | 2021 Madrid Open | ||
101 | John Isner | 2017 Rome |
Most aces in a one-week tournament
No. | Player | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
156 | Reilly Opelka | 2019 New York Open | Hard | [20] |
144 | John Isner | 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic | [4] |
Most aces served in a three-set match
No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
47 | Milos Raonic | W | Cameron Norrie | 1R | 2024 Queen's | Grass | |
45 | Ivo Karlović | W | Tomáš Berdych | QF | 2015 Halle | Grass | [8] |
44 | Mark Philippoussis | W | Byron Black | 2R | 1995 Kuala Lumpur | Carpet (i) | [21] |
Ivo Karlović | W | Daniel Brands | 1R | 2014 Zagreb | Hard (i) | ||
Nick Kyrgios | W | Ryan Harrison | 1R | 2019 Brisbane | Hard | [22] | |
John Isner | L | Wu Yibing | F | 2023 Dallas Open | [23] | ||
43 | Mardy Fish | L | Olivier Rochus | 2R | 2007 Lyon | [21] | |
Reilly Opelka | W | John Isner | SF | 2019 New York | [4] | ||
Reilly Opelka | W | Branden Schnur | F | ||||
40 | Goran Ivanišević | W | Magnus Norman | 1R | 1997 Zagreb | Carpet (i) | [21] |
Most combined aces in a three-set match
No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
81 | Reilly Opelka | W | John Isner | SF | 2019 New York | Hard | [24][25] |
71 | Nick Kyrgios | W | Ryan Harrison | 1R | 2019 Brisbane | [22] |
Most consecutive aces
No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 | Sam Querrey | W | James Blake | QF | 2007 Indianapolis | Hard | [26][27] |
8 | Radek Štěpánek | W | Christophe Rochus | F | 2006 Rotterdam | Hard (i) | [28] |
7 | Michael Stich | W | Guy Forget | SF | 1993 Hopman Cup | Hard | [29] |
Andy Roddick | W | Sjeng Schalken | QF | 2003 US Open | [30] | ||
Andy Roddick | L | Lleyton Hewitt | SF | 2005 Australian Open | [31][32] | ||
Fernando González | W | Joachim Johansson | 3R | 2005 Wimbledon | Grass | [33] | |
Feliciano López | L | Tomáš Berdych | 2R | 2013 Shanghai | Hard | [34] | |
Ivo Karlović | W | Mikhail Youzhny | 1R | 2014 Halle | Grass | [35] | |
Roger Federer | W | James Duckworth | QF | 2015 Brisbane | Hard | [36] | |
Sam Querrey | W | Thomas Fabbiano | SF | 2019 Eastbourne | Grass | [37] |
Serving five consecutive aces from 0–40 down
Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boris Becker | W | Andriy Medvedev | F | 1995 Hopman Cup | Hard | [38] |
John Isner | L | Édouard Roger-Vasselin | SF | 2013 Delray Beach | [39] | |
John Isner | W | Jiří Veselý | 3R | 2015 US Open | [40] | |
Reilly Opelka | W | Roberto Bautista Agut | QF | 2019 Basel | Hard (i) | [41] |
Most aces without a double fault
No. | Player | W/L | Opponent | Round | Event | Surface | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
49 | John Isner | W | Bernard Tomic | 1R | 2016 Davis Cup | Grass | [42] |
39 | Reilly Opelka | W | John Isner | SF | 2022 Dallas Open | Hard | [43] |
37 | John Isner | W | Jerzy Janowicz | 1R | 2016 Australian Open | [14] | |
34 | Ivo Karlović | W | Nicolás Massú | 1R | 2007 Stockholm | Hard (i) | |
33 | Andy Roddick | W | Fernando González | 4R | 2010 Australian Open | Hard | |
31 | Marat Safin | W | Andre Agassi | SF | 2004 Australian Open | [44][45] |
Seasons with 1000+ aces
|
Most seasons finished as ace leader
|
WTA Tour
Serena Williams holds the record for most aces in a tournament with 102 en route to winning the 2012 Wimbledon title.[54]
Most aces in a match
There have been 32 matches played in which a player has served 20 or more aces, since 2008.[55]
Most seasons finished as ace leader
Note: Most aces served in a season since 2010.[63]
No. | Player | Years | |
---|---|---|---|
5 | Karolína Plíšková | 2015–17, 19, 21 | [63] |
3 | Serena Williams | 2012–14 | [63] |
2 | Caroline Garcia | 2022–23 | [64][65] |
1 | Nadia Petrova | 2010 | [63] |
Marion Bartoli | 2011 | ||
Julia Görges | 2018 | ||
Elena Rybakina | 2020 | [66] |
Seasons with 500+ aces
Karolína Plíšková has the most aces in a single season with 530 in 2016,[67] which broke her own record of 517 in 2015.[68] She has also served the most aces in a match on clay, with 21 in her second round victory over Jeļena Ostapenko at Stuttgart in 2021.[69]
No. | Player | Years | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2 | Karolína Plíšková | 2015–2016 | [70][67] |
Most aces in WTA 1000s in a season
Elena Rybakina has served the most aces in WTA 1000 events in a season with 235 in 2023, the most since 2009. Followed by Karolína Plíšková with 234 and Serena Williams with 233.[71]
Half-ace
In 1999, the Swedish artist and writer Kjell Höglund proposed a term for when an opponent manages to hit the ball without it actually entering into play. He suggested it should be called a "half-ace".[72]
See also
References
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